1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to ink transfer systems and to methods for transferring ink images onto a surface of an article. More particularly, the present invention generally relates to adhesive compositions and ink image transfer systems produced therefrom.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the textile manufacturing industry, ink images are generally applied to various clothing articles by a number of different methods, and particularly through direct printing of an ink image onto the clothing article via screen printing and digital printing methods. While the direct printing methods can rapidly and efficiently produce a large number of clothing articles, the resulting products can exhibit a number of deficiencies and such printing methods are not suitable for all types of textiles. In some methods, particularly those involving digital printing onto the clothing article, the ink may be absorbed or penetrate too deeply into the textile. If the textile absorbs too much of the ink then the color and vividness of the deposited ink image will be diminished. In order to compensate for this, the thickness of the ink layer deposited is increased (e.g., greater than 20 mil using screen printing methods), which results in a raised image surface and texture that is not highly desirable.
Furthermore, these problems can be exacerbated when synthetic textile materials (e.g., polyester) are the target substrate. Also, many conventional inks, especially digital inks, do not adhere well to synthetic textile materials. Consequently, the resulting ink image produced on synthetic textiles lacks durability due to this poor adhesion. Additionally, the colors in the deposited ink image are generally less vivid and can change after being deposited on the synthetic textile. For example, white colors can appear grayer when deposited on colored polyester textile.
To address the shortcomings of direct printing, some have utilized image transfer systems to deposit an ink image onto a textile. Although conventional ink image transfer systems can be used on a wide variety of textiles, they also exhibit a number of deficiencies. For example, applying ink images using ink image transfer systems takes a considerable amount of time since each image must be applied with a separate transfer sheet. Thus, production methods utilizing ink image transfer systems are rather labor intensive and produce a lower output per hour compared to direct printing. Furthermore, many conventional image transfer systems have problems adhering the ink image to all types of textiles due to the adhesive limitations of such systems. Consequently, the deposited ink image may lack durability and can be damaged after multiple washings.
Accordingly, there is a need for a quick and efficient method for transferring an ink image onto a variety of textiles that does not compromise the quality of the deposited ink image.